Houston students take home national design awards

Think Bill Stubbs is the only international design talent in town? Think again. Two Houston design students have just taken home two major nationwide prizes.

Dwell magazine put a call out in March for ASID members to create a Pinterest board reflecting their personal design style, and in April HCC Central Interior Design student Aqueel Suleimanji was named one of ten winners for his Pinterest board, which combined an interest in green spaces (Suleimanji has a B.A. in landscape architecture from Texas A&M) combined with mid-century modern style and Islamic design influences.

Aqueel Suleimanji working in the interior design department at HCC Central

Suleimanji, who graduated from HCC in May, will travel to Los Angeles to as a VIP at Dwell on Design June 21-23 in addition to participating in the event’s Pinterest Pavilion alongside the nine other winners, including Houston interior designer Debra Sabrsula.

Jennifer Durbin

Over 1,600 designers from around the world entered Sub-Zero and Wolf’s 2010-12 Kitchen Design Contest,and Houstonian Jennifer Durbin took home the Student Award as one of only seven global winners. A student at the Art Institute of Houston, Durbin’s winning sketch for a kitchen combined cherry wood and aluminum-stained cabinets, stainless steel appliances and aviation influences.